Portis changes his course

Jeremy Crabtree | Rivals100.com Recruiting Analyst

Will he stay or will he go? That’s the question that has caused four-star dual-threat quarterback commitment Josh Portis to make a major move to shake up his recruiting. Find out more details in this Rivals.com exclusive with the quarterback from Los Angeles Taft.

With the status of Urban Meyer with the Utah Utes and his named being thrown around as the top candidate to replace Tyrone Willingham, Portis informed Rivals.com that he’s backed away from his pledge to the Utes.

“I’m de-committing from Utah, and I’m going to go ahead and visit Kansas State this weekend and then Maryland the weekend after that,” Portis, who is 6-foot-4 and 200 pounds, said. “I haven’t had a chance to talk to coach Meyer yet. They haven’t really returned my calls.”

Portis did talk with Meyer on Saturday, and apparently the coach would not give him a clear answer whether or not he would be still the coach in Salt Lake City in the future. And with him being a mid-term enrollment, Portis would like to have a decision made in the next two weeks.

But what if Myer is hired at Notre Dame, a school known for it’s great quarterback tradition?

“If coach Myer coaches to Notre Dame, I’m still not going to be really into them,” he said. “I don’t think that’d work out.

So what teams have made the cut?

“Please list Kansas State, Maryland, Oregon, Washington and LSU as my teams,” Portis said. “Kansas State and Maryland probably lead for me. K-State is kind of tight. They have been with me since the beginning even though I’m committed. They’re recruiting me hard, and the quarterback situation would be ideal for me, too.

“Maryland is always a good school for a quarterback. The quarterback situation is rough there, too. They’re coming by the house tomorrow. K-State is coming by later this week. Coach Bellotti from Oregon is also coming by on Thursday.”

Washington is also expected to make an in-home visit, but Portis said he was unsure about the Huskies since they still don’t have a head coach in place.

So hang on recruiting fans, it looks like the wild ride that started with Tyrone Willingham’s firing at Notre Dame is already starting to make national recruiting waves.